Merry Christmas!

One of my favorite Christmas memories was the first Christmas that I knew Jesus. I was only about 10, and I remember sitting looking at the baby Jesus in our little manger, in awe that the story of Jesus was really true. I got out my Bible, searched around a bit, and managed to find the Christmas story. Then I sat there on the rug in the living room of our house, reading the story by our tree and our nativity, savoring it. In Christmases since, the joy has remained. I think of Christmas caroling house to house in the cold one year, trying to keep my flute in tune, as it got cold and warm! Music has been a big part of Christmas for me -- so many Christmas carols tell much or all of the gospel.

One of my favorites is:

God rest ye merry gentlemen; let nothing you dismay.Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas Day.To save us all from Satan’s power when we had gone astray.O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy,O tidings of comfort and joy.

It speaks of God’s love and His desire for us to know His comfort and joy.

Being so tired lately means that it is harder for me to do all the Christmas things that I’d like to -- it’s been years since I’ve gotten Christmas cards out or baked cookies. Maybe I’ll get my son to bake some this week! But the joy of Christmas is still here. God started this! In our culture, Santa gets too much prominence, but even he represents joy and love -- and fun! All good things to have at Christmas -- all things that God wants us to know. Christmas doesn’t always live up to how we want it to be -- with the house sparkling and everyone overjoyed with being together, perfect gifts, and lots of wonderful food. I’ve found that trying to have everything perfect is not the key; instead, the key is to enjoy the good and simple things that do come our way -- like the puppy in the picture above that grew up to be Luath -- and to remember the amazing gift of Jesus’ birth.